Saving Christmas
by ilovetvalot
Summary: Its a JJ/Reid Christmas. Join them as Reid reminds JJ why Christmas is important. Written for D. Claymore Fanfiction and Jenna Pitstick over on Facebook!


_**Author's Note: Hello! Chit Chat on Author's Corner forum have signups in session through December 31 for our "Resolutions Challenge" for January. Rules and details are also at the forum! Please join us for the challenge that will kickoff the New Year.**_

_**Also, we're going strong over on FaceBook. We've got some amazing authors and fun threads. To join the fun, simply friend "Ilovetvalot Fanfiction". There's loads of fun to be had by all. Join us.**_

_**A special note to my readers...as Christmas draws nearer, so does my husband's return from the war zone in Afghanistan. This said, posts will be slowing DRAMATICALLY after the holiday. Bear with me. Slower updates are expected to last approximately a month. But, real life and a family reconnection will take precedence. I'm sure you all understand. But, take heart, a happy hubby makes an energetic writer.**_

_**And as always, thanks to our readers! Your reviews and alerts make our day and we love hearing from you! We don't own a thing, but we sure wish we did.**_

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_**Author's Note 2: Special thanks to Jenna Pitstick and D Claymore Fanfiction for their wonderful Holiday Prompts on Facebook: snow statistics, childhood Christmas Tree Ornament, letter to Santa, the first Noel, slippery roads, teddy bear, leftovers, and food fight.**_

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**Saving Christmas**

"And if there's any chance at all of Henry having the White Christmas he wrote on his Santa Wish List, snow statistics indicate that you'd need to celebrate the holiday in the northeastern United States. Sixty percent of areas including much of the northern Rockies and New England traditionally have at least an inch of snow on the ground for December 25th. His letter to Santa was surprisingly specific about his desires," Spencer Reid rambled as he unpacked Christmas decorations from the plain cardboard box on JJ's dining room table.

Placing the ornaments around the remnants of their earlier meal, he deftly dodged a flying pepperoni JJ hurled across the table at him. Arching one brow, Reid frowned. "I hardly think now is the time for a food fight, Jayje," he muttered, wrinkling his nose.

"You're right, Dr. Demented," JJ huffed irritably, chomping down onto a piece of thin crust pizza. "Nor is it the time to remind me of one more thing I'm not going to be able to give my son for Christmas." She glared at the man that had become family to her. "It's bad enough that I had to crush his heart with the news that Will won't be making it this year," she muttered as she shook her head, still seething over the fact that Henry's father would be unable to make the trip from New Orleans to see their child for the holiday. When he'd left her, she hadn't thought that he'd be leaving their son, too. But, to her utter dismay, that's exactly what had happened. Will hadn't visited Henry since their separation six months before. And while he had a healthy amount of doting aunts and uncles, there was no replacement for his father.

"Sorry," Reid murmured with a grimace, easily understanding how much pain Henry must be experiencing in light of his father's absence. He himself was well versed in the art that was absentee parenting. His own father had provided him a prime example. "How's he doing?" he asked quietly.

"Coping," JJ sighed, shrugging stiffly as she dropped the pizza into the open flat box on the dining table and turned toward the red tote sitting on the floor. "He's renamed his teddy bear "Will"," she informed her best friend, shaking her head grimly. "Every night he tells it about his day the way he used to do with his dad," she whispered sadly. "Honestly, Spence, it's breaking my heart. He's lucky if the real Will calls once a week. He went two weeks between his last phone calls and every time I let Henry call him, it went straight to voice mail. The child support checks are becoming just as erratic, too," she muttered, throwing the tree skirt she'd unearthed on the dining room table. "I'm thinking that he's met someone else."

"Does that bother you?" Spencer asked curiously, casting JJ a sidelong glance.

"Only in the aspect that my former significant other can't find time for his own kid. At Christmas," JJ snarled. Grabbing the leftover pizza, she closed the box with a flip of her wrist. "Otherwise, I wish him a happy, joyous New Year," she added sarcastically, striding toward the kitchen.

Watching her angry exit from the room, Reid sighed. Where the heck was Garcia when he needed her? These emotional conversations were not in his repertoire. Everybody knew that. The truth...which he couldn't exactly share with JJ in the frame of mind she was currently immersed in…was that Will was very probably done with the family he'd helped to create. And if Spencer's own history was any indication, in a few years, Henry would be lucky to receive a simple card. The good news was that the little boy had a whole host of people that adored him, himself included. The child wouldn't suffer for his biological father's ineptitude.

Spencer had made it a mission.

One that he had began tonight when he'd shown up at JJ's cozy apartment three days before Christmas and informed her that, in spite of the fact that this year, she identified more with the Grinch than Santa, she was absolutely required to decorate her home for the holiday season. And after the requisite bribe of pizza and beer, she'd fallen in line, helping him drag the boxes containing the decorations from her small storage room.

"C'mon, Jayje," he called, knowing her penchant to ignore his entire plan, "Even with the slippery roads, it won't be that long before Hotch and his girlfriend return with Henry! This place needs to be a Winter Wonderland when he comes inside!"

Groaning as she walked back in the room wiping her damp hands on her jeans, JJ scowled. "Isn't Halloween your thing, Spence? Since when do you channel Frosty the Snowman?"

"Since this is my godson's first Noel without his Dad. JJ, I know you don't want his memory for this Christmas to be filled with sadness, do you?" Reid asked softly, his soft eyes boring into hers.

Flushing, JJ's jaw dropped as her throat thickened. "Of course not," she whispered, shaking her head quickly. Running an embarrassed hand down her face, she shook her head. "God, I've been one bitchy Scrooge, haven't I?" she asked thickly.

"Ebenezer came around by the end of the story. I have faith you will, too," Reid comforted her gently as he placed another ornament on the table. "What is this?" he asked, wincing as he stared down at the clay ornament, his eyes trying to distinguish what exactly it was supposed to be an image of.

"That's St. Nick." JJ smiled as she joined him at the table. "I made him in second grade," she said, proudly, taking the figure from his hands and staring down at it

"Did you believe Santa was anorexic?" Reid asked quizzically as he looked at the ornament over her shoulder.

"Hey," JJ chided, thumping his shoulder, "I wasn't particularly artistically inclined as a child, but I knew all twelve of my multiplication tables by the time I was seven," she informed him proudly.

"I knew mine at three," he offered absently, picking up another handmade ornament.

"Show off," she grumbled, peering into the almost empty box. "I can't believe I kept all this stuff," she said a bit dazedly as she picked up a glittery ornament made of pipe cleaners. "Ohhhh...my sister made this one the year before she died," she whispered, touching the photograph of two smiling girls displayed in the middle reverently.

Looking at the photograph, Reid smiled faintly. "You could have been twins."

"Most people thought we were, but she was two years older than me," JJ explained, wiping a tear off her cheek. "There are some really good memories in this box," she sighed, looking around the table.

"And really good memories that haven't been made yet," Reid reminded her, patting her shoulder. "You've just got to make the effort. If not for yourself, do it for Henry, Jayje. Please. My mom never let herself even try to be happy after my dad left. She was miserable and because she was unhappy, so was I. Don't do that to Henry," he urged strongly, his head tilted.

Turning, JJ saw the vehement expression on his face and gently took his hand. "I won't, Spence. I promise," she assured him, letting out a deep sigh. "Henry is going to have the Christmas he deserves, thanks to one very special elf," she said, lifting on her toes and pressing a kiss to his cool cheek.

"Good." Spencer nodded, relieved to see JJ's eyes regain some spark. "In that case, we have a lot of work to do. If you tackle the tree, I'll hang the lights outside."

"It's a deal," JJ agreed instantly, reaching for the container of bright holiday bulbs. Somewhere deep inside, she felt herself suddenly lighten, the burden she had been carrying for months disappearing for that moment.

And two hours later, between them both, they created the Holiday atmosphere that had been sadly lacking before Reid's arrival.

Collapsing on the sofa beside her friend, JJ looked at the twinkling holiday lights of the Christmas tree. "Wow," she breathed, looking around the room that had been transformed from a mere living area to a virtual Christmas cornucopia. "We did all this in just a couple of hours. You're a miracle worker, Dr. Reid," she praised, patting his knee.

Reid smiled as he sunk down into the soft cushions. "I glad you managed to find your holiday cheer."

" Even if you had to chip through a layer of bitterness and resentment to find it, huh?" JJ snorted with a small shake of her head.

"I knew it was there," Reid countered as he shrugged. "We just had to locate it."

"You're a good guy, Spencer Reid," JJ sighed, leaning her head against Spencer's bony shoulder as she stared at the tree. "Henry and I are lucky to have you. You saved Christmas for both of us."

And as Reid sat quietly beside his best friend, his smile widened.

It was a fair trade, after all. They'd been saving his Christmases for years.

_**Finis**_

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_**So, have you enjoyed this ride?**_


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